


Ask Me Again

by iam93percentstardust



Series: Tumblr Prompts [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Breaking Up & Making Up, Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Cheating, It's that kiss between Sharon and Steve, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Post-Civil War (Marvel), Sort of? - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:47:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24090799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iam93percentstardust/pseuds/iam93percentstardust
Summary: The first time Steve asks Tony to marry him, Tony doesn’t even hesitate to tell him no. Steve isn’t terribly surprised. They’ve only been dating for two weeks. Steve had gone back to the tower after SHIELD had fallen, strode up to Tony, and gotten as far as, “As the world’s leading expert on waiting too long,” before Tony had stopped him by kissing him. It’s been two whirlwind weeks since then and he’s already certain that he wants to spend the rest of his life with him but asking him right after the first time they have sex had probably been a bad idea.So, no, Steve isn’t surprised Tony tells him no.He’s more surprised that Tony says sleepily, “Ask me again in the morning.”He means to. He really does. But the morning brings with it a board meeting that Tony’s running late for and a possible sighting of Bucky and he forgets all about it.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Tumblr Prompts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817254
Comments: 50
Kudos: 461





	Ask Me Again

**Author's Note:**

> This got its start as a prompt on tumblr from miswrit but then it got long enough for its own story

The first time Steve asks Tony to marry him, Tony doesn’t even hesitate to tell him no. Steve isn’t terribly surprised. They’ve only been dating for two weeks. Steve had gone back to the tower after SHIELD had fallen, strode up to Tony, and gotten as far as, “As the world’s leading expert on waiting too long,” before Tony had stopped him by kissing him. It’s been two whirlwind weeks since then and he’s already certain that he wants to spend the rest of his life with him but asking him right after the first time they have sex had probably been a bad idea.

So, no, Steve isn’t surprised Tony tells him no.

He’s more surprised that Tony says sleepily, “Ask me again in the morning.” 

He means to. He really does. But the morning brings with it a board meeting that Tony’s running late for and a possible sighting of Bucky and he forgets all about it.

The second time he asks Tony to marry him, they’ve just recovered the scepter and cleaned out the last of Hydra’s bases and he is drunk off of Asgardian mead.

“Tell me I’m wrong,” he slurs drunkenly. “We’d be _good_ together.”

Tony laughs and pats his back, a wistful little smile on his face. “We’re already good together, Winghead. But tell you what: ask me again in the morning and maybe I’ll say yes.”

But then Ultron happens and all thoughts of marrying Tony are driven out of his mind.

The third time he asks Tony to marry him, a city is falling from the sky and Clint is fighting an army of robots with a bow and arrow and Steve is furious with Tony, so fucking _furious_ , but he also knows that it’s as much the Stone’s fault as it is Tony and Bruce’s, probably more so. He’ll apologize for his outbursts later, when they’re both calmer. Right now though, when there’s practically no chance of them making it out of there alive, he wants to know what Tony’s answer would be.

He switches to a private comm and, as he’s ripping the heart out of a robot, asks, “Marry me now?”

Tony laughs, breathless and exhilarated. “We’re not doing death confessions, Steve. Ask me again when this is over.”

By the time it’s over, Pietro is dead and it’s no longer the right time.

He decides to wait until asking him again, waiting until he can do the proposal properly with a ring and everything. But the moment is never right. Tony leaves the Avengers and Steve gets caught up training the new guys and they never have the time to be together anymore. Tony doesn’t like to be around the Compound much, reminded of everything he’d just given up, and Steve doesn’t like to be around the tower, reminded of everything they’d lost. They’re drifting apart and he _hates_ that, hates that their relationship is falling apart even though he knows that he wants to spend the rest of his life with Tony Stark.

And then Tony is caught up in something political, something that he hates, something that he won’t share with Steve, which means that it must be bad.

Tony tells him, “I’ll tell you about it once it’s fixed,” but it never seems to be fixed. It’s been two months since the last time he saw Tony so when Nat needs to go to the tower to get her Widow’s Bites fixed, he goes with her.

“I have a question for you,” he says once Nat has disappeared to go talk to Pepper. His hand drifts toward his pocket where he can feel the outline of the ring box. 

Tony looks at him expectantly. Steve opens his mouth.

And Tony’s phone rings and FRIDAY says, “Boss, it’s him again,” and Tony groans.

“Ask me once I’m done with this?” he asks and Steve nods.

Except-

Sam calls in the middle of Tony’s conversation to tell him Rumlow’s been spotted in Lagos. He gives Tony an apologetic look and Tony just flaps his hand for him to go. They part without saying goodbye, without even a kiss, and Steve wonders when they got to this point.

Everything goes wrong in Lagos and then things go from bad to worse the moment Tony says “Accords” and then Peggy is dead and then the UN is attacked and people are blaming Bucky - _Bucky_ \- and he’s running to catch him before anyone else does.

And things are going from worse to worst as Bucky is triggered and Steve is calling Tony to apologize but he can’t take Bucky back to the UN and Tony is apologizing for not telling him about the Accords and Sharon _kisses_ him…

He’s never hidden his relationship with Tony from anyone. He knows that Sharon knows they’ve been dating. So when had they gotten to the point that people assumed they were no longer together?

They’re fighting in Germany and it’s worse this time because shame is burning in the pit of his stomach, shame that he can’t tell Tony about - Sharon is his _cousin_ \- and Nat is letting them go, attacking a king so they can make it to Siberia.

Tony finds them in Siberia. Steve had thought things were bad before but he apparently had no idea. He’d told Tony after SHIELD fell that he thought Hydra had killed his parents but there’s a difference between _knowing_ and _seeing_ and an even bigger difference between knowing that a shadowy organization killed them and knowing that it was your partner’s best friend.

Tony attacks. Steve doesn’t blame him. But he knows Tony even after everything’s gone wrong. He knows that if he doesn’t stop this, Tony will regret what he does. So he stops him. But everything is too much, the shame and the guilt and the regret are clouding his mind, and he takes it too far.

He calls Pepper as he’s getting Bucky outside, chokes out, “I fucked up,” and that’s when he finds out that Tony has a contingency plan for him, that during the flight to Siberia, he’d set up somewhere for them to go if things went south.

Just like Tony: always taking care of him.

He goes with T’Challa, just like Tony had planned. He settles Bucky in Wakanda, just like Tony had suggested. He breaks the team out of the Raft with the help of the specs Tony provided. And then he sends a letter and a phone, begging for forgiveness and ending it with: _I wanted to ask you before this happened. It’s the wrong time now but I want you to know that I wanted to ask. Marry me?_

Tony texts him back: _Ask me when you’re all home again._

Except it takes time, time for Tony to arrange pardons, time to swing favor back in their direction, and Steve hates waiting. He and Tony meet up once a month in odd locations, first to talk things out and then to rekindle their relationship. It’s hard and it takes months of meeting for things to get back to where they once were or maybe they’re better this time. Maybe they trust each other more, talk to each other more, listen to each other more.

They’re in a villa in Italy this month, owned by Tony Stark or maybe by Maria Carbonell, the details are a little fuzzy. Tony is dozing next to him, naked, covered only by a thin sheet. The windows are open, letting in a warm breeze. It’s idyllic and lovely and Steve has the sudden realization that the only reason he wants a pardon is so he can come home to Tony. He doesn’t want to pick up the shield anymore, not when the arc reactor flickering is still playing behind his eyes every time he closes them. Bucky would make a good Captain America, Sam an even better one. He wants to come home to Tony, in his bed, in his home, in his _life_.

“Marry me,” he says. Tony rolls over to face him and starts to open his mouth. Steve stops him with a kiss. “No more waiting, no more asking you again. I know you wanted me to be sure but Tony, I’ve been sure for two and a half years. Marry me.”

Tony smiles. “ _Yes_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Emoji Key for those who don’t know what to say!
> 
> ❤ = you wish you could kudos again
> 
> 😭 = I got you right in the feels
> 
> 🔥 = this was so hot!
> 
> 🐰 = it’s so fluffy!


End file.
